Councillors defied their officials yesterday to approve a 40-bed care home in the Black Isle.
Following emotional speeches in the chamber, Parklands Group said it hopes to start building the facility in Fortrose next year, which they say will create 50 jobs and generate £1million for the local economy.
Planners said the care home would encroach on a green wedge of “prime agricultural land” between Fortrose and Rosemarkie, which they argue should be free of development under the Moray Firth Local Development Plan (agreed in 2015).
But local councillor Gordon Adam said “material consideration” should be given to a care home of “vital social need,” citing Census data showing that 900 people are aged over 75 in the Black Isle – a figure he says is forecast to double in the next 20 years.
The closure of the 40-bed Marine House in Rosemarkie, and impending closure of Abbeyfield, has meant Black Isle residents being cared for in homes as far away as Ullapool and Skye, with Shoremill Care Home in Cromarty the only local home left.
And Mr Adam said a local farmer told him that “25 sheep might go hungry” as a result of the £4.5million Parklands development, while Skye councillor John Gordon said disallowing it because of animals is “like the Highland Clearances”.
Mr Adam added: “Black Islers are proud of their distinctive identity and want to spend their remaining lives there with wonderful views of the sea over Chanonry Point, and not to have this taken away by being homed somewhere on a brownfield site in Inverness.
“I regret that they (planners) have based their recommendation to refuse on the unzoned land (for development). The case for approving this application is overwhelming.”
There were 46 letters lodged in support of the new care home while 11 were against and one was neutral. A previous planning application from Parklands was refused by planners in June last year.
Although supportive of the current plans, Fortrose and Rosemarkie Community Council said granting the development could set a “precedent” for further building on green land.
But Mr Adam said any future applications would face similar tough tests, while Tain and Easter Ross councillor Alsadair Rhind said joining the villages “could be ruled out”.
Following yesterday’s approval by members of the north planning applications committee, Ron Taylor, managing director of Parklands Group, said: “We are delighted for the local community who have campaigned vigorously for this outcome.
“The real winners here are the older people of Fortrose and Rosemarkie who will no longer have to leave their family, friends and the community they call home in order to receive residential care.”
Black Isle MSP Kate Forbes welcomed the decision and voiced concerns about a “lack of care provision for the elderly across the Highlands”.
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